When many people read the history of the Tang Dynasty, they subconsciously think that the Tang Dynasty was invincible in the world of the same period. But in fact, is that true?

While planning for "The Legend of the Tang Dynasty", Li Mu had read a lot of historical materials about the Tang Dynasty. One of them introduced the Arab Empire's army defeated Gao Xianzhi, the governor of Anxi, the Tang Dynasty, and controlled most parts of Central Asia. This incident made Li Mu realize for the first time that during the seemingly invincible Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty was not truly invincible in the world.

Afterwards, he collected a lot of information and basically understood the main pattern of the world during the Tang Dynasty.

During the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Empire, the Persian Empire, the Arab Empire, and the Byzantine Empire were dominated by the Tang Empire from east to west. At that time, the Arab Empire was called "Dashi" and the Byzantine Empire was called "Fuji".

In the 16th year of Zhenguan, when Li Shimin had an idea about Goguryeo, the Arab Empire destroyed the ancient Persian Empire, and its expansionary tentacles extended to Central Asia, which is the location of the Western Turks. At this time, the Western Turks were already in vain and Central Asia had just entered the sphere of influence of the Tang Dynasty.

In the first year of Shangyuan, Li Zhi proclaimed himself Emperor and Wu Zetian as Empress. The Tang Dynasty entered the vastest period of territory, and in this year, the army of the Arab Empire conquered the entire Khorasan region, which was originally belonging to the Persian Empire, and invaded Bukhara across the Wuhu water. Bukhara was under the jurisdiction of the Anxi Protectorate of the Tang Dynasty. The Arabs invaded the Tang Dynasty for the first time, but there was no large-scale conflict between the two sides.

In the first year of Shenlong, Zhongzong was restored. In the ten years afterwards, the Arab Empire army conquered the Hezhong region of Central Asia.

In the 22nd year of Kaiyuan, Li Longji began to seek immortality and seek medicine and appointed Li Linfu as prime minister. In the same year, the Tang Dynasty was obviously at a disadvantage in the battle with the Arab Empire. In the Battle of Talas in Central Asia, the Arab Empire's army defeated the army of Gao Xianzhi, the governor of Anxi, and most parts of Central Asia gave it to others.

The army of the Arab Empire pointed directly at the directly governed area of ​​the Anxi Protectorate of Tang.

At this point, the Arab Empire completed its feat of land across Asia, Africa and Europe, and its horizontal comparison has surpassed the gradually weakening Tang Dynasty.

After the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty entered a period of decline. Tubo rose to replace the Tang Dynasty and became the ruler of the Western Regions. More than half a century later, Tubo and the Arabs formed a sharp confrontation in Central Asia. The main reason why Tubo was able to confront the powerful Arab Empire at this time was that there was conflict within the Arab Empire and there was no time to take into account the Central Asian region that was not important to them, so Tubo barely maintained the confrontation.

By the end of the Tang Dynasty, the most prosperous Arab Empire also fell apart. The Byzantine Empire, that is, the Roman Empire, replaced the Arab Empire and became a world overlord across Asia, Africa and Europe.

...

As a time traveler, Li Mu knew this information. This information constituted his vision. Just like the East and West in later generations, the world today is also divided into the East and West. From the early Tang Dynasty to the middle Tang Dynasty, the East and West can be understood as the Tang Dynasty and the Arab Empire. After the middle Tang Dynasty, the East and West can be understood as the Tang Dynasty and Tubo countries, as well as the gradually weakening Arab Empire and Byzantine Empire.

The Byzantine Empire was thousands of miles apart and its strength was not revealed at this time, so there was no need to worry about it. However, the rise of the Arab Empire had become an unstoppable momentum. If the Tang Dynasty had dealt with the Western Turks, completely opened up the Silk Road, and extended its power to Central Asia, it would soon face the threat from the Arab Empire.

How to deal with this situation will no longer cause the destruction of Gao Xianzhi's hundreds of thousands of troops. It is time to think about it carefully.

If we can unite the countries and nations east of Central Asia, unify them into the Tang system and become allies of the Tang Dynasty. Then all problems will be solved. After all, this is based on cultural foundation. Tubo, Turks, or Persia, they all admire the culture of the Tang Dynasty and regard the rising cannibals as barbaric invaders. If the Tang Dynasty can establish the status of the East with absolute strength in a short period of time, then these countries surrounding the surrounding Tang Dynasty will become "satellite countries" and isolate the army of the Arab Empire from the border of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Mu dared not tell anyone about this kind of thought. Because for these civil servants and military generals who conquered the Central Plains after Li Shimin fought for half his life, their subconscious mind would feel that if they had the opportunity, why not destroy all these countries and conquer a huge territory, even if they faced the army of Dashi, they would be able to fight and win.

Li Mu couldn't explain these things. Could he say, don't think about it anymore? The two world wars in later generations have proved that it is absolutely impossible for a country to rule the world. Trying to rule the whole world is blindly trying to blindly.

He could not say that people cannibalize others because they share the same belief in the same nation. If the Tang Dynasty destroyed Tubo, Turks, and Persia, they would inevitably suffer from internal and external troubles, and they would be even more uncot.

So if he wants to achieve his goal, he can only find a way and follow the route he has set and do it step by step. It is still far from success, but fortunately, there is still a lot of time. Maybe when he dies, the Arab Empire's army will not be at the gate. After all, if it is based on the original history, it will only happen when Wu Zetian is about to die.

Wu Zetian died in her eighties, but Li Mu didn't have confidence that he could live to ninety. Even if he could survive, he would definitely be a confused old man.

...

Dugu Jiu was not in the yamen office, so Li Mu did not stay for too long. He left a note on his desk and returned the same way. The boy's whereabouts have become increasingly strange recently, and he often can't find anyone. When he meets occasionally, he is in a hurry and doesn't know what he is busy with. Li Mu originally planned to leave in three days and he has to explain some things to him, but if he thinks about it carefully, it seems that there is nothing to explain. It's just to let him take good care of the mansion and not let the sluts take advantage of the loopholes.

But now, there are twenty Jinyi Guards guarding each of the marquis's mansions. Each of them has a crossbow in their hands. With such "firepower", even if three thousand soldiers attack, they may not be able to attack. Not to mention any masters in the martial arts world. If they dare to invade like Rong Mama before, a volley would become a sieve.

Li Mu is not worried about safety.

What he was worried about was the child, especially the daughter who had not yet named. Therefore, before leaving, giving her daughter a name became the top priority.

"Qiaoqiao, what name do you want to say?" Bai Qiaoqiao looked at him and said, "You are the child's father, come and ask me again?"

"I have raised one, why don't you raise one too?" Li Mu had a sudden thought and said, "Why do you have your surname Bai and your name is Bai Li Li?"

"Just because he is a daughter, he won't let his surname be Li?" Bai Qiaoqiao, who has not been pregnant, was so sensitive that she was frightening. He got angry when he heard this. He picked up his daughter and turned around, his eyes red and said, "Pity, my daughter, your cruel father, you don't let your surname be Li."

"No, just kidding." Li Mu hurried over to coax. Although he knew that Bai Qiaoqiao was also joking with him, he still felt distressed. He threw the son in his arms into the cradle, came over to hug his wife and daughter, and said, "Isn't this a name? I always feel that none of them sounds good and is not worthy of my daughter."

Bai Qiaoqiao glanced at him and said, "Didn't you say that the name is just a code name? It's good to be nice? Look at your son's name, isn't it good?" As she said, she greeted her son: "Isn't it, Li Bai?"

Li Mu could only smile bitterly. Every time he heard Qiaoqiao call her son, he would feel sorry for his idol. He plagiarized other people's poems and called her son. If he could meet her, he would not be beaten to death.

"How about that," Bai Qiaoqiao suddenly thought of something and said, "Didn't you give me a big name, Bai Lu? Then our daughter is called Xiao Lu, what's the name?"

"Absolutely not possible!" Li Mu said word by word, very determined, and there was no discussion on this matter.

Bai Qiaoqiao didn't understand why, muttered, and stopped mentioning it, just said, "Then you just want to ask me, and you still don't agree if you say it."

"Oh..." Li Mu sighed. Suddenly, he noticed the moonlight by the window. He looked up and saw that the moonlight was very clear and bright today. He looked at his daughter who was slowly falling asleep in his wife's arms, and suddenly said: "Wife, I think our daughter must be a beautiful woman who is fascinating when she grows up. Otherwise, what about Li Qingguo?"

"How could anyone call such a name?" Bai Qiaoqiao waved his hand quickly and said, "I'll tell you to hear that, but I won't scold you. It's too unlucky."

"Yes," Li Mu himself also reacted. As soon as the Tang Dynasty was established, you would have to 'popularize the country'. It's so unpleasant to say. After thinking about it, Li Mu said again: "That's called Li Qingcheng. Luoyang City is mine. I like my daughter's prodigality. What's wrong?"

Bai Qiaoqiao smiled bitterly: "Husband, do you want to think about it again?"

"I don't want to think about it anymore, that's it." Li Mu took his daughter from Qiaoqiao's arms. The little guy was about to fall asleep when he was disturbed by his unscrupulous father. He started to cry. Li Mu didn't care and said enthusiastically: "Baby daughter, you will call him Li Qingcheng from now on, domineering, right? If you are satisfied, you will cry a few times?"

The crying sound was indeed even louder. Bai Qiaoqiao looked at Li Mu speechlessly, raised her hand and pinched him, took the child over, and took a long time to finally coax her to bed.

...

Of course, it is impossible to completely block the news about Tudou. Although the sources of information from all parties were inconsistent and the timeliness was not consistent, gradually, they all knew that Dingxiang had a magical crop, with a yield of thousands of kilograms per mu. After more and more people knew about it, Li Shimin finally heard the censor's report in the court.

"...Your Majesty, this crop is called potatoes, and it is said that the yield per mu can reach 3,000 jin. The people of Dingxiang called it an immortal seed, but the source is unknown, but I have received information, which may be related to the Marquis of Luoyang."

"Although there is no major disaster this year, and the grain harvest has increased compared to last year, there are still many places where there is still a shortage of food. Dingxiang produces hundreds of thousands of kilograms of potatoes, and there will be a surplus. I ask Your Majesty, which may be used to support other places. In the coming year, leave seeds and promote farming methods. If they can be popularized, the Tang Dynasty will no longer have any worries about shortage of food."

The person who spoke was surnamed Zheng, and the Zheng family in Xingyang.

When Li Shimin saw this person, he instinctively felt nauseous and disgusted. Of course, he knew the purpose of this person, for the seeds of potatoes. As a crop that can increase grain yield step by step, the interests of potatoes cannot be measured. Food is the most important thing for people. With food, it is equivalent to having the hearts of the people and everything. Rebellion since ancient times only requires two basic conditions. One is food, and the other is people. With food, you can support people, and with people, you have the capital to rebel.

For rulers, too much food is useless, just right. If there is too much food stored in the local area, it will cause disaster over time.

This year, most places in the Tang Dynasty had good harvests. There was actually no shortage of food rations, which is why Li Shimin never mentioned potatoes. He wanted to treat potatoes as spare military rations. If they could be stored, they would maximize their interests for future military rations.

No matter how it is used, it must not be handed over to the family. At this time, he didn't know that there were so many bags of potatoes that had been replaced by Li Siwen with beef jerky.

"His Majesty?"

Wei Zheng's voice interrupted Li Shimin's thoughts. He came back to his senses, looked at Wei Zheng, and said, "What did Duke Wei say? I'm just distracted."

But the censor named Zheng was so angry that he thought to himself that I had said so many things just now, but he didn't hear a single word? But he didn't dare to say that he was just a small censor, and he knew that what he said today would make His Majesty unhappy.

Wei Zheng did not have the worry of Jingshi Zheng. His character was just for this. Seeing that Li Shimin deliberately said that he didn't hear it, he repeated it and said: "Now, there is still a shortage of food in the north, and the military and civilians of Bingzhou are not sufficient. In contrast, there is no need for so much food reserves in Dingxiang. Please ask Your Majesty to handle this matter with the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

Before Wei Zheng finished speaking, he was interrupted by Li Shimin: "Duke Wei, why can't I understand what you said? What is the connection with the Ministry of Internal Affairs?"

"Your Majesty, what I mean is that the Office of the Internal Affairs will purchase it and then sell it to the northern county prefectures and prefectures. In this way, the people of Dingxiang will benefit, and the people of the northern people will get food, will they be the best of both worlds?"

Jingshi Zheng quickly agreed; "I mean the same thing."

"Haha," Li Shimin laughed and said, "You two dear friends have thought things simple, right? You can buy potatoes just by saying you can buy them, and you can sell them if you say you want to sell them?"

The two looked at each other and Wei Zheng said, "What does Your Majesty mean? Why can't such a thing be beneficial to the people?"

"Tell you, I have known about Tudou for a long time." Li Shimin sighed: "To be honest, I can only blame you for yourself. It's so unkind and I've done everything."

"Last year, Li Mu was fascinated by the acquisition of seeds. He bought countless strange seeds, and they were planted by him in the valley outside the city, and there was this potato. At that time, he told me that this thing can be eaten and a thousand pounds can be collected by one acre of land. I just took it seriously and didn't take it seriously. Later, he said that I didn't believe it, so he planted it himself. Then he cultivated the seeds and took it to Dingxiang, and asked his brother Li Siwen to reclaim thousands of acres of fertile land and planted all potatoes."
Chapter completed!